© Erin Scott/ReutersU.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) arrives for her weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., December 10, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott
Senior Congressional leaders are expected to meet at 4 pm on Tuesday as lawmakers attempt to quickly hammer out deals on spending legislation and emergency economic relief.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will host the three other most senior congressional leaders -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.); Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.); and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) -- in her office, according to three people granted anonymity to share details of the meeting.
The meeting represents the first time in months leaders have met in person to hash out a broad bipartisan deal that could include hundreds of billions in spending in coronavirus relief. Previous efforts have failed since the Spring. President-elect Biden has urged lawmakers to reach a deal during the lame duck session of Congress, though, and Democrats have signaled in recent weeks that they are more open to a smaller-scale package than they were before the election.
There are two main items on the Tuesday afternoon agenda. First, lawmakers are trying to finalize a $1.3 trillion spending accord that will keep the government open past Friday through September 2021. Second, lawmakers are trying to pin down a coronavirus relief deal that is likely to extend numerous expiring aid programs and provide new funding to accelerate and expand distribution of the new covid vaccines.
The meeting was confirmed by senior Republican and Democratic aides not authorized to comment publicly on it.
Trump on December 11 signed into law a one-week spending measure that gave lawmakers until this Friday to reach a more comprehensive agreement in order to avoid a government shutdown. If lawmakers haven't hammered out all of their issues, they could be forced to seek another short-term spending measure, which could push further negotiations into Christmas week.
Lawmakers have tried to hold the government spending talks alongside broader discussions about an emergency-relief package. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including House members who are part of the Problem Solvers Caucus, are trying to assemble a $700 billion to $900 billion measure that would provide new unemployment aid and small business assistance, among other things. They are having a harder time finding consensus on what to do for struggling state and city budgets as well as liability protections for businesses, and there is debate about whether to shelve those items temporarily to speed the rest of the package along.
News of the meeting was first reported by Politico.